Thursday, October 11, 2007

CRASH, BANG, BOOM, Flood?

That is about how it happened. I was minding my own business, just put Tyson down for a nap, and was beginning to wash my dishes, when I heard metal pipes fall from above my head. Oh, let me back up a second. In Palm Court, we have three levels, well the people who own the apartment building have NOW decided to add a forth level. Why? I have no idea! Anyway, the workers begin about 7am and stop around 5pm, and the banging and clanking is non stop.
Ok with that said, on to my story.
So there I was, minding my own business, and CRASH, BANG, (you get the idea), I jumped and then heard what sounded like the opening of a fire hydrant. Pretty close, it was my main water line, and it was broken and there was water gushing into the apartment from the bathroom and kitchen sinks. OH CRAP!!!
I bolt out of the apartment running and realized I have no shoes on, so I run back to the apartment and slip on the water. I know I was hurt but my adrenaline had kicked in and I felt nothing. I found my shoes and again bolted out the door and up the make shift stairs to get someone to stop the water. I began to scream and tell the workers just what I thought about them, and finally one of them SLOWLY came down to look at my apartment. When he could see that I had an inch of water on the floor he quickly told me it wasn't them. I really didn't care at that point in time for apologies, I wanted the water OFF! So I yelled again and jump started him into action and he shut off my water. When he came back to the apartment, I was physically shaking because of my frustration and because I was standing in and inch or more of water. HOW DO I CLEAN THIS UP? I must have looked like a crazy woman.

To make this novel short, I called up the apartment management and demanded to have help NOW! The plumber came and assessed the problem and sure enough, the workers from up above had dropped a metal beam down a shaft and broke my water line. GREAT! He said he could fix it, but that he had to run into Phillipsburg for parts, and that I should start sweeping up the water. I was glad for the instruction, because I had no idea how to get the water out. This is what my balcony looked like:
And the outside walk way held all of my living room furniture. The management also sent me over a pair of maids to help me with the cleaning. They must have had to do this before, because they had it cleaned up in a hour. I was so grateful for their help. We had to get everything off of the floor and move everything around, but after that we all swept the water out the front door, no small task and then mopped up the rest. During all of this time my friends Laura and Kelly helped in finding Vaughn to let him know what had happened and I was blessed that Tyson slept through most of it. (Thanks gals!!)
The plumber finally fixed the water problem late last night and we could finally eat and then sleep. However, the toilet, now, takes about an hour to fill up so that it can be flushed, but hey, at least it will flush and I have water to it. It could be worse. I got up this morning to finish cleaning up from the plumber's work and from the water damage. The apartment is clean, and looks ok, I just have a lingering moldy smell coming from my rug, I think it is going to get tossed SOON.
Ah, the stories of St. Maarten, they are soon about to end. 58 more days, and counting...........

3 comments:

Cluff Family said...

WOW you have to end with a bang don't you! 58 days doesn't sound soon enough for and end to all this!! I'm soo sorry you had to deal with all this! Let me know if there is anything I can do to help!!!

-Jill

No longer exists said...

What a mess I am sure! My apartment took in some water when we had a couple of days of rain and it was a mess but certainly didn't cover the entire floor! Bless your heart!!! Glad that you ended up getting some help, you could have always called me if you wanted more!!!

No longer exists said...

What a mess I am sure! My apartment took in some water when we had a couple of days of rain and it was a mess but certainly didn't cover the entire floor! Bless your heart!!! Glad that you ended up getting some help, you could have always called me if you wanted more!!!